tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583877.post3840119961078932634..comments2024-03-20T05:31:42.781-04:00Comments on Secondat: city cyclingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7583877.post-49635650633019649652011-03-25T11:39:41.119-04:002011-03-25T11:39:41.119-04:00I found City Cycling to be mostly a regurgitation ...I found City Cycling to be mostly a regurgitation of the author's earlier work. 'Obsolescent' would be the term I would use for this book. <br /><br />For non-UK readers, the book's narrow scope will be less than helpfu. Many of the author's observations pertain to commuting conditions found only in the UK. <br /><br />That's not the only problem. Mr. Ballantine makes several curious recommendations, such as buying and using adjustable stems for hard everyday use on commuting bikes (an accident waiting to happen, as these use mere bolt friction to hold their position). <br /><br />Much of the rest of the material seems quite dated, and fails to cover popular trends such as singlespeed and internal gear city bikes. The advice to start off a mountain bike with a rigid fork as a 'training' tool was obsolescent in 1994, let alone now. <br /><br />Other ideas from the past, like putting in the usual skimpy, add-on chapter on bike maintenance and repair, have also become obsolete with the years (there are simply too many technical variations in bicycle systems today for such a chapter to have any possible utility.)<br /><br />Until Mr. Ballantine can update his views and gather more information on city cycling outside of London, I'd recommend that readers pass on this book.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com